Dame Barbara Windsor's widower Scott Mitchell has claimed he will "never love again" following the death of the EastEnders icon.
Scott, 59, was 27 years younger than the actress and admitted they shouldn't have worked "on paper" but says he was "thankful" she chose to be with him.
Speaking to David Walliams about his book titled By Your Side: My Life Loving Barbara Windsor, Scott said: "I was blessed to have crossed paths with Barbara.
"On paper, it shouldn’t have worked, but it did with us and I am so thankful that she chose me to share her life with because I don’t think I will ever find another."
The actress passed away in 2020 following a battle with Alzheimer's - a disease Scott labelled as "cruel" as it took away Barbara's "incredible memory".
He continued: "She said to me, ‘I was doing this thing today and I just went blank, the lines wouldn’t come to me.’ I said to her, ‘Bar, maybe this is the time you need to come away from EastEnders.’
“She loved it, so it was a hard thing to get her to stop.”
Scott revealed he was spurred on to the pen their story by Barbara herself shortly after she received her diagnosis. And he also admitted the pair had been extremely open about past conquests early on in their relationship.
In extracts from the book shared with The Sun, Scott said: "She said it was always good to brush the cobwebs away. Ours was not an open relationship, but it wasn’t a closed book either.
"She had always said sex was sex and love was love, and she wasn’t one for double standards, so she kept her reservations to herself and never asked me directly."
Scott also admitted the nastiness he faced by trolls was accused him of "playing the long game" after her death. The late actress and Scott tied the knot in April 2000 but due to their age gap they were often subjected to unwanted commentary regarding their relationship, despite the pair enjoying a loving, almost three-decades long romance until the soap icon's death at the age of 83.
Criticism came after Barbara and Scott's joint company moved into his sole name following her death. He recalled: " I don’t look at comments but for some reason, one was above the line and someone had said, 'I see the long game paid off."
He blasted the comments, but was able to brush them aside.
